Monday, November 28, 2005

The recent demonstrations against Kushboo and Suhashini in Tamil Nadu makes one wonder if we are living in a democratic country. Even more surprising was the fact that they were carried by the so-called protectors of Tamil culture. As if somebody had appointed them to protect Tamil culture in the first place!!! If a culture is strong in its values or has a real material value in it, does it need anyone to protect it? Tamil culture has survived for more than 2000 years and it does not need mortal organizations like PMK or Dalit Panthers to protect it.

Coming back to Kushboo and Suhashini, whether what Kushboo said is against Tamil culture or has she insulted Tamil women is purely subjective. In these days of increasing spread of AIDS, her advice to use protective devices is pure common sense and is nothing against any culture. Premarital sex is a reality whether some political parties like it or not. Kushboo gave her views on present-day life it should be taken as her personal views and not as a insult to Tamil culture. Incidentally, the same Tamil culture built a temple for Kushboo in Trichy some years back. What baffles one is dragging Suhashini into the ring. She had done nothing wrong except support Kushboo who was left alone to defend herself.

Yes, where are our film heroes? Might be they are busy acting protecting women in films only!!! I sometimes think which is the most explored place in this world? Is it America, is it India, or what? No, it is the navel of a Tamil film heroine. Some directors and heroes went to the extent of making an omelet on it. As if exploring that part of human body is part of Tamil culture. Interestingly enough, the same people who explored and are exploring the navels of heroines half their age are protesting against Kushboo. Do I see something odd here? And the demonstrations in front of Kushboo’s house, it is disgusting. Showing broomsticks and throwing eggs and tomatoes. Is this a civilised society? Sadly, most of these demonstrations were done by women.

Where are our parties and leaders who say that they follow Periyar and Bharathi, might be they are busy preparing for elections and secret alliances. Everyone in this country including Kushboo has a right to say what he or she wants, and it is nobody’s business to protest it in streets. Let them go to court if they don’t like it. After all, courts are nothing new to them.

Meanwhile our revolutionary TV channels were not left far behind. Recently they were busy debating about an incident in Rajasthan where an Israeli tourist was taking bath nude in a temple lake. It created a uproar among the priests, and our channels bisected and dissected that news for a few days till a new celebrity divorce or celebrity marriage showed up. Sadly, beating up women in streets by their husbands or sons, which happens in India every day, doesn’t create the same sensation as this news did for our TV channels. If something happens every day, does it cease to be a news?

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Came across this article in Rediff.com by Sumit Bhattacharya, a real interesting one:

When I read George Orwell's seminal 1984 and the concept of thoughtcrime -- musings for which the State can throw you in prison -- I shuddered. When I heard from a senior colleague how she had been often rapped on the head in 'liberated' Afghanistan for not keeping it covered, I shuddered.Dresscrime, I said to myself, what next?The Indian government has answered -- sightcrime. Watching an onscreen character smoke is injurious for you, it has decided.There can be no defence for smoking, many are chorusing. It pollutes young minds, leads them astray.Sure, it is harmful. The State can warn you, it can persuade you.But does it have the right to decide everything for you? Can it order you in every aspect of life?Can it order coffee to be blurred on screen next? If the beverage had been discovered now, it would have been banned as a drug. Soon, it will want you to only see movies where all characters do yoga in the morning and change their diet daily to suit the latest health study.Last I heard, this was a free country. But then, in the Land of the Free where Liberty is a statue, the State is trying to get into bedrooms, and the man who thought the Taliban were a rock band till he decided to smoke 'em out has ordered you be fingerprinted when you enter his country.Social scientists much wiser, much less vice-ridden than ignorant, smoking me have argued the State is a necessary evil.Who decides when the necessary morphs into evil?There are bad things and there are good things. But they are not watertight compartments. If there is no black, there can be no shades.Life makes you take wrong turns. When you realise they were wrong turns, you are wisened by the experience.Life is black, white and grey. Art is a portrayal of that.Cinema is an art. It captures life's contradictions.If there are no contradictions, there is no progress.If everyone thought alike and felt alike, there would be no art.It's like an old man and a young, restless gun. The old man wants to advise the young man about what is wrong. When guidance turns to oppression, there is rebellion.Imagine watching a great, true-to-life biopic of Winston Churchill, Bob Marley, Albert Camus, Jean Paul Sartre, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara or Shah Rukh Khan, to name just a few. The screen will be a blur, thanks to the ban. Imagine watching Satyajit Ray's Feluda or Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes on screen, a blur when they light their favourite Charminar and pipe.Imagine Amitabh Bachchan in Deewar.The real them is bad for you, the government is saying. Sure, it has the right to.

But can it ban you from seeing the real them? That is the question.Movies today, books tomorrow, your life the day after, art yesterday.Yes, righteous mobs have always sought to stifle artists, to dictate what they can and cannot portray.Hitler wanted to breed a 'perfect' population. His vision of perfect. Artists, scientists, thinkers who opposed were to be hunted down. Aren't our governments doing the same?Aren't they trying to breed a population that only thinks in a certain way?Aren't they hunting down messengers?Aren't they deciding what is entertainment by shutting dance bars they themselves have made millions from?Aren't they slapping dress codes on teachers, students?They think looking at dirt breeds dirtiness. They don't want to clean up. They want you to put on blinkers.What is at stake for you, the non-smoker? Every little thing you hold as your own. The onscreen cigarette ban is just a smoke screen. It is the monster's slip, which is showing. If you don't slay the monster now, because it is eating up what you think is harmful, it will grow and feed on what you hold dear.The monster is the growing interference of the State in your life.It is hunting the easiest target now -- art.I like my smoke. I inhale lung-fulls of it. I pay more for it with every Budget. I pay my taxes, which never flow back to better my life. I cower in a corner of a train, dying for the nicotine my body demands while my nonsmoking co-passengers lech and argue whether a woman who is dressed in a certain way nurses a desire to be raped.My heroes are flawed. I think art should not be fettered. I think there is no good war.I am the target of governments, health conscious organisations, concerned public et al.I am more dangerous than the non-smoking, non-drinking rioter, terrorist or soldier who butchers people because they choose different faiths, beliefs, lives.

Me

About Me

Hi, I'm Vijayendran (you can call me Vijay). I'm just your normal next-door guy, a bit hyperactive sometimes. Right now, I'm working in Coimbatore, India. I like to travel a lot and read, hmm...haven't done much of writing, in fact this is my first serious attempt to write something, let's see how it goes.